THE RAINMAKER

For a long time I thought The Rainmaker was Flower King's least successful album. The reason is simple: it came after a series of classic CDs and it is simply not par to them. That does not mean this album is bad, or mediocre, not at all. In fact, when I heard it again to write this review I found myself unable to pick up many faults. I have to point that there is almost no filler here, but this concept album does not seem to gel as a whole. There are some fine tunes (like the first track, Last Minute On Earth), but it fails to capture my imagination like any other previous ones did so easily.

Ok, maybe it's just a matter of taste, since, at the time, I was looking for another Retropolis or something like that and, of course, I would not get it. Every Flower King album is different, for the bad or the good. Rainmaker is very different indeed from 2000's Space Revolver, or any other for that matter. It's a pity that this CD would be the last with the original drummer Jaime Salazar, who left right before this album was released.

After listening to the whole album many times I can't find no reason not to recommend it to anyone who likes prog music. There are some fine moments here. But on the other hand I can't say it's essential. Good? Yes. But there are other TFK CDs that are better and more inspired. So go for the previous ones before tackling Rainmaker. 3,5 stars for the great musicianship, production and the overall quality of the music.